Northwest economic agencies team up

TWO local economic development agencies have agreed to work more closely together to avoid duplication of effort and to assist each other.

A memorandum of understanding signed Sept. 28 between the Kitimat-Terrace Industrial Development Society (KTIDS) – Northwest and the Skeena-Nass Centre for Innovation in Resource Economics Society (SNCIRE) paves the way for each to complement each other.

KTIDS – Northwest encourages development while SNCIRE emphasizes research and innovation in resource use.

“This is a way for cooperation and collaboration – to have two regional groups work together who have [a] similar vision and ideas,” said KTIDS – Northwest executive director Alex Pietralla.

“We’ll find ways to work together so we don’t do the same things or miss gaps that are out there.”

SNCIRE executive director Rick Brouwer said the memorandum will also help companies and agencies understand how each works.

“We have mandates that are convergent and complementary but we don’t want to be confusing,” he added.

Both Pietralla and Brouwer said their agencies have been advocating for more regional cooperation and collaboration in light of the number of industrial projects now underway or about to start.

“We decided we needed to show some of that collaboration that needs to be happening,” said Brouwer.

Also expected to sign on soon is the Northwest Science and Innovation Society.